This modern-day Sense and Sensibility is a witty and hilarious story about two sisters: Liza, a would-be poet who spends miserable days as a legal secretary; and Bette, a graduate student writing her dissertation on Toast in the English Novel. Bette has taken to eating only that which the characters she is writing about would eat: nice cups of tea, boiled egg on toast, mincemeat. . . Liza's a bit concerned. She's also worried about the status of her relationship with her actor boyfriend Gregor. They're not living together, and that's a problem. 

Then there's the issue of Liza's career, or the lack thereof. Can dog-walking be considered a vocation? Liza's beginning to think so. Mercifully, Bette is merely a local phone call away. 

Throughout this sassy novel, the sisters deal with unemployment, infidelity, interfering parents, Hollywood, lemmings, a pregnancy, and a wedding. The Perfect Elizabeth is as indulgent and cathartic as a pint of Häagen-Dazs.